Guide to Choose a Bookkeeping Outsourcing Team

Understand your strengths and your weaknesses

The first step to outsourcing is to recognize where you need help in your business and to distinguish which tasks are draining your time so that your time can be used much more effectively doing something else. Before you go for every single bookkeeping and accounting outsourcing task that you don’t like or particularly enjoy, it’s important to look at how cost-effective that would be. As a business owner, you want to be spending 80% of your time on the 20% of activities that provide you with the biggest return.

Familiarize with the Bookkeeping tasks that you are about to outsource

One of the most common mistakes, when someone is thinking of bookkeeping outsourcing, is that, you have hired an outsourcing team, and you must hand over all the responsibility to them, 100%. I am a firm believer in working with experts but remember, they may be the expert in their field, but you are the expert in your business. There is no one that knows it better than you. So spend some time on expert blogs and read the relevant resources, just to see what the best practice is for your type of business. It’s only when you combine the two fields of expertise, that you get the best results possible.

Create your internal outsourcing process – set objectives, deadlines and your measure for success

So how does it work? What is the next step? As an outsourcing entrepreneur, you are bound to hear the same questions. Creating a centralized workflow and standardized delivery process will help both you and your soon-to-be virtual bookkeeping team understand the overall picture and relationships between all the different parts of the business. It will let them know what tools they will be using, such as Asana, Base camp, Google Docs or Dropbox, especially when working collaboratively, as well as the overall project management flow.

Find Your Outsource bookkeeping agency

Once you have a clear vision of what you require and the skills that will be needed from the outsource bookkeeping agency, you can ask the right questions to determine their suitability. This includes asking for case studies, data security, references and feedback, as well as the results from their work with previous and existing clients. This is also a great opportunity to gain an understanding of how the professional bookkeeping team works and whether they will fit in with your culture. Therefore, make sure that you address any questions you might have about their communication and availability.

Manage Your Team

As a result of outsourcing bookkeeping, you can often end up working alongside several outsource bookkeeping agencies who you have never met, but become members of your team. Once you’ve selected your A-Team, it’s important to talk to them! Communication is key for any successful business, so it’s crucial that you build a communications routine into your schedule with regular meetings and check-ins. Take advantage of communication software, such as Skype, Zoom, Google Hangout and Gmail Chat, which enable real-time video conferencing and instant messaging.